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Steven W.

Steven W.

Joined on 06/07/13

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 20
Most Favorable Review

Great Card

XFX Double D Radeon R9 280 3GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card R9-280A-TDFD
XFX Double D Radeon R9 280 3GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card R9-280A-TDFD

Pros: -Easily boost clock speeds using drivers -Cheaper than 280X yet nearly same performance -Beautiful design that matches almost any color theme in your PC -Plays all of my games on High-Ultra 1080p no problem

Cons: -None

Overall Review: Bought this card a while back with 2-day shipping and was around $311 to order. Since then the price has dropped further, which is great! This card is an excellent card. It isn't to loud, but it also isn't quiet while gaming in high-end games. Have never had any issues with this card. JUst plug it in, boot up, and download the latest drivers from AMD and it will work like a charm. I have boosted the GPU clock speed from 933MHz to 1025MHz, and the Memory clock from 1200MHz to 1325MHz and have had no issues with games crashing or running poorly.

Most Critical Review

Terrible Layout

BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight Black Steel/ Plastic Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case
BitFenix Prodigy M Midnight Black Steel/ Plastic Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case

Pros: -Looks very unique. Had someone ask me if what I had was a computer. -Decent cable management, would recommend a modular PSU.

Cons: -Terrible for video cards. If you have an optical drive in this thing, chances are your GPU will not fit in this thing. I had to remove the shroud on my 7850 to make it fit. The only way your GPU will fit with an optical drive in this thing, is if your motherboard is short and the x16 lane is the first down the row (takes up the very first two expansion slots in the back of the case). -The BitFenix lgo on the front was offset and poorly placed. For a $100 case, this is rediculous.

Overall Review: Get a modular power supply, and a short motherboard with good PCIe x16 placement. Otherwise, you're going to have some issues. Also, take off that emblem and gorrilla glue it back in the middle where it should be. I ordered 3 of these cases, 2 white, 1 black, all of them had the same issues.

12/31/2013

Semi-Large but AMAZING ITX Tower

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX Series PH-ES215P_SRD Black / Red Mini-ITX Computer Case
Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX Series PH-ES215P_SRD Black / Red Mini-ITX Computer Case

Pros: - 3.5" Drive bay mounts can also mount 2.5" drives - Can house four 2.5" drives (if you purchase an extra SSD mounting tray) or two 3.5" drives with two 2.5" drives (only one 2.5" drive if you don't purchase an extra 2.5" tray mount) - Elegant design with fantastic cable management (good at hiding cables with nice interior framework) - Fits an XFX R9 390 (about an 11.4" card) perfectly - The red LED bar on the front of the case is illuminated quite nicely (not too bright, not too dim) - Extra large and quiet front intake fan

Cons: - Graphics cards with coolers wider than the 2-slot I/O shield may not fit properly in this case - Hooking the front fan up to a fan controller doesn't seem to allow you to alter the speeds whatsoever - The black paint on chassi can scratch off easily (with the scratch of a fingernail I noticed) the side panels and front are not affected by this. Just the rear of the chassi and the interior mostly.

Overall Review: I would get this case if you don't mind having a large ITX build. But the size allows for great cable management and the elegance of the case makes it all worth it in the end. Get some glowy fans and LEDs in there and mmmm MMMMM that computer look sexy

Coil Whine, Cooler too Large, V-Sync framerate issues

MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card R9 390 GAMING 8G
MSI Radeon R9 390 8GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card R9 390 GAMING 8G

Pros: - Works?

Cons: - Upon first installing this card I noticed that it produced a lot of coil whine and also got me very poor framerates in games. I noticed that enabling v-sync in the games brought performance from around 30FPS to 60FPS which is odd. I have never had this issue with any other card. Performance was never hindered by v-sync in the past. All drivers were up to date. (No framecap software or in-game framecap settings were applied) - The heatsink and fan size on this card is far too large for any small ITX cube setup. For exmaple if your case is the CoolerMaster Elite 130, RAIDMAX Element, Silverstone DTX, or a case of similar design, this card will not fit with the shell (or sidepanels) on. And if it does it will be snug and create extra resistance/rubbing on the GPU fans. I have to leave the shell to me Elite 130 case off to have this card installed.

Overall Review: I recommend using an AMD FX-6300 or Intel i5 or greater to yield the best performance results with an R9 390 card. If you're on and AMD Quad-Core like me the best way to reduce bottlenecking on newer games is to overclock to about 4.2GHz+.

Horrible Case

APEX TX-381 Black Steel Micro ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX12V 300W Power Supply
APEX TX-381 Black Steel Micro ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX12V 300W Power Supply

Pros: -Handle -Comes with PSU

Cons: -Defective -Damaged -Terrible quality control

Overall Review: The case came out of the box with a big dent in the back rear corner near the PSU, but the box had not a single scratch on it... this leads me to believe that it was damaged during manufacturing and they desided to still box it up and sell it. If that ugly dent wasn't enough, I found out that the front left USB port doesn't work. So I took the front panel off and inspected the USB ports, and found a huge white scratch going across the copper lanes leading to the bad USB port. Apex is clearly a cheap and unreliable brand. I will not be buying from them again.

It's like my old Shuttle XP

Cooler Master Elite 130 - Mini-ITX Computer Case with Mesh Front Panel and Water Cooling Support
Cooler Master Elite 130 - Mini-ITX Computer Case with Mesh Front Panel and Water Cooling Support

Pros: This case is very compact. I moved to this case from my old NZXT Vulcan mATX case and the size reduction was amazing! This case is shorter, and just about less than half the height of the Vulcan. It has great airflow (best configuration I have found is with the PSU fan upside down and the 80mm fan acting as exhaust). I was able to cram a Zalman CNPS8900 CPU cooler in this thing and it fits with about a quarter of an inch under the PSU. I have this case sitting on my desk to my left, and the front I/O is really nice and easily accessible. I charge my phone and from the front USB and even have my keyboard receiver plugged into the 2.0 USB since there are 3 USB ports, when most cases only feature 2. I have a Rosewill 120mm red LED fan in the front, and it glows through the front mesh giving this case a mean but sexy look. If I were attracted to computers I would slap a ring on this one. The power and Reset buttons are great. Very sturdy, with a nice and audible click when depressed. And finally, I was able to fit two 2.5" drvies and one 3.5" drive with a 5.25" Fan Controller in this case. I also have an R9 280 which fits perfectly and still has more room to go.

Cons: Nothing worth noting.

Overall Review: I put an MSI A88XI AC WiFi capable motherboard in this case and take it to friends houses for LAN parties. It's small and and hardly take up any space which is nice. Transportation is just about as clumsy as a normal mATX case though, considering there are no handles or easy way to carry this case. With both hands is optimal, but if your carrying a monitor and/or backpack with keyboards and mice, one handed transportation of this case can be a bit difficult, especially since it most likely will be heavy due to the components you'll out in this thing. This is not a con, but merely something to consider based on what you're buying the case for. Otherwise, the small form factor makes up for everything when you see how much space you're saving. I cant this case in a backpack!

10/19/2014